Creating a website for a commercial business

My dad has asked me to create a website for his teaching business, but I'm wondering if maybe we should get it done by professionals. I tried to make a site in Rapidweaver, but I can’t find a theme that I think looks good for a teaching site. And while I have made many websites before, I haven't really designed my own layouts for awhile, so I'm a bit out of practice. And since this is our livelihood we're talking about, it may be better to invest a bit in the website :P

I stumbled across NJ Web Design and I really like the sites I saw in their examples, but I'm wondering if maybe I should look for local companies here in Italy instead. I think it depends on what aspects of the the site they handle - whether they just do the graphics, or whether they create the content as well. I read that they specialize in marketing New Jersey businesses, so that probably means it’s better to get a local company to make your website for you. It makes sense, since each country (and probably city) has it’s own customs, interests, and ways of seeing things. For example, I know the posters and trailers they make for movies in Italy are different to the ones made for the same movies in the USA.

So to all my readers, have any of you ever hired a company to create a website for you? Which aspects of the site did they handle, and what was your experience? What were the results, and were they worth it? Would you do it again?